


Night Terrors

by NervousOtaku (orphan_account)



Series: Tales of a 144 Player Fansession! [20]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Borderline Berserker Bard, Bullying, Choking, Grimdark, SBURB Fan Session
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-07 08:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10356765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/NervousOtaku
Summary: Or: That Grimdark Bastard Is Hiding On My Planet Again, And I'm Going To Beat His Ass When I Find It





	

Scott couldn't help but scowl slightly at the memo.

“What is it?” ZombieCatsprite gurgled, drifting closer.

“The Eldritch Houdini memo is active. That Mage ran off again.”

His sprite made a gargling noise that may have been a mew.

Huffing in annoyance, Scott captchalogued a few things and grabbed the sprite-medallion. If the Eldritch Houdini memo had been active for more than ten minutes, then that meant the bastard was here on LODAH _again_.

The Land of Dungeons and Horror was almost just as big a maze as the Land of Labyrinth and Wrath. Not only did it have an eternal spooky atmosphere, it was a somewhat repetitive landscape. A lot of things looked similar, and not just that it was a big forest or something. No, Scott was fairly certain that a lot of his planet was deliberately designed to appear identical to other parts, like Spooky's House Of Jumpscares. It was easy to get lost here, without a guide or some clue of where you were going.

Double-checking that his prosthetics were secure and in good condition, Scott left his house. He had just wanted to settle down and play a game or two before going to sleep. Then he'd've flown around Derse some and seen who else had reached god-tier, and when he woke up, he had planned to get back to his quest. But _noooooooo_ , the goddamn Mage of Void had to be a fucking _pussy_ about _everything_.

Why did the Seers never _find_ the guy here? Scott was willing to bet that at least one of them _knew_ he was here when he flipped out.

Dammit, it was dark out. The clouds were covering Skaia up again.

Opening up his Sylladex, Scott selected his flashlight.

A FNAF-esque robot sprang out at him with a scream before vanishing and leaving behind the light. Since that scare was old news by this point, Scott hadn't startled. He'd have to recalibrate the Modus sometime, see if he couldn't get some new scares.

Flashlight in hand now, Scott started to walk. He knew where the damn bastard was, approximately.

He headed through the Soulless Swamp, consorts shrieking at him as he did, warning him about how dangerous it was. He knew it was dangerous. He also knew he was twice as dangerous as the monsters in it, with his berserk-mode.

LODAH was like a paradise for Scott, with his affinity for horror. Of course, according to the lore of the land, it wasn't supposed to be like this. His Denizen, Set, had apparently brought his nightmares with him when he came to the planet, and the nightmares came to life through sheer power. That was how Scott understood it, but consorts tended to be slow. He wouldn't put it past them to have misinterpreted something. Like maybe Set brought the monsters and horror as bodyguards to keep people from waking him up or something.

Scott still had yet to go see his Denizen. He'd been warned that he wasn't supposed to outright attack, and to stay just outside of the territory when he did. He knew that the majority of the Space-players had, a few of the Light-players, the leader had, and the Seer of Doom was practically besties with his. The Denizens were insanely strong, though you weren't supposed to fight them, apparently, and there were scheduled times at which you were supposed to meet them. Scott still wanted to see this sign-up sheet with the times on it, because that was just bullshit.

A few underlings attempted to attack him as he stepped from the Soulless Swamp, but the Medusa Talons made short work of them. He only bothered collecting the grist that lay directly in his path, continuing on towards the Afterlife Forest surrounding the Tower of Bones. Again, consorts shrieked at him. A few underlings shrieked at him.

Nobody really liked the Land of Dungeons and Horror except for Scott.

And this Mage bastard.

A few restless spirits tagged along after Scott as he walked, their mumbling and jabbering no longer affecting him like they used to.

Yeah, he was going to _beat_ this guy. How _dare_ he make Scott's treasure-trove any less scary by repeatedly exposing himself to it?

Mist swirled around Scott's feet, and he made a mental note to carefully clean and oil all his prosthetics when he got back to the house. The Tower of Bones wasn't too far now—

Scott spun on his heel, pointing his light into the trees.

“Get on the damn path where I can see you, motherfucker.” he growled.

For a while, nothing moved.

Then, slowly, black smoke oozed out of the shadows, slinking towards the path. It thickened and coagulated, pulling itself together into the Mage of Void, Kevin Euri. Red eyes blinked rapidly in the flashlight's beam, and the grimdark bastard turned away.

“Oi, look at me, you _cunt_.” Scott snarled, striding closer.

“ _Back_ stay!” Kevin gargled, words distorted as always as he shuffled away.

“No, I'm _not_ staying back! Go bother someone else! Someone who _gives a shit_ about your sorry ass!”

“Them don't to I _hurt_ want!”

“Oh, so you want to hurt _me_ , is that it?” Scott hissed, baring his teeth. The throbbing in his temples was starting to build up again.

“No no no!” Kevin shrieked, waving his hands frantically about. Black smoke began to pour off the guy, his equivalent of sweating bullets. Good. He should be scared.

“Wonder if we could fit all that smoke of yours in a jar?” Scott suggested angrily, advancing still. Kevin began to jabber worriedly. “Maybe we should try— Stick you in a jar and seal it up tight. Nothing can get you in there, and we don't have to worry about you fucking everything up, yeah?”

By this point, he'd dropped the flashlight, and had reached out to grab Kevin's throat. The spirits around them had begun to shriek, but Scott could hardly hear it over the rush of blood in his ears.

He _hated_ this guy.

He wanted him _dead_.

He wanted him _gone_.

A savage snarl contorted his face as he clamped his hands down. Kevin wailed in his garbled, inhuman voice, starting to claw and scratch at anything his could reach. The smoke roiling off of him was thick and gritty, disgusting on Scott's tongue whenever he inhaled any. But it only prompted him to squeeze _harder_ , his anger soaring.

And then there was quiet.

The smoke was gone.

The ash faded from Kevin's skin, leaving him flushed with breathlessness instead. The red of his eyes faded into olive, and his garbled screams turned into choked gasps and pleas.

Before Scott could properly register that, a wave of sheer exhaustion crashed over him.

All his rage dissipated, and he released Kevin in favor of collapsing. The Mage seemed to be of a similar mindset.

“Oh, _there_ you are!”

Scott looked up, his vision a tad blurry. “... Cassidy...” he mumbled.

“Hey there!” the Bard of Void greeted, waving lazily. “Looks like you found Kevin!”

... He did, didn't he...? Yeah, he found him...

“He looks real tuckered out! I better get him to a Sylph or something! And you should see about those scratches, man! Did a werewolf get you or something?”

Scott looked at his arms. They were bleeding.

“No...” he said, struggling to muster up any emotion at all behind the words. “No, Kevin... _he_ did it...”

“ _Aww_ , you're such a sweetheart, staying with Kevin in one of his fits!”

... No... he wasn't... he didn't like Kevin, but...

... He just couldn't get mad. Not with Cassidy around. There was a block on his anger...

“Well, thanks for finding him! Oh, and don't forget that movie-night is in two days, Michelle's place!”

“... Yeah... seeya...” he nodded groggily as the Bard scooped up the limp Mage and started walking away.

... Maybe he could just sleep here...


End file.
